Where the Heart Survives
by Selene467
Summary: Sequel Where The Heart Takes You. Shanti has joined the sled team, but her first mail run ends in disaster. A storm hits White Mountain and the team is left behind. Can they survive until rescue arrives? Based on movie Eight Below.
1. The Storm

_Disclaimer: I don't own Balto or any of it's characters, nor the story or movie Eight Below. I just play with the character's of Balto and was inspired by Eight Below and decided to base this sequel on the movie._

----------

Where The Heart Survives

The Storm

----------

In the prequel to this story, Kodi's sled team found a young wolf pup and brought her home to Nome. Complications arose, towns people not ageeing, Steele's thirst for revenge and Shanti's parents wishing to reclaim their lost daughter. In the end, Shanti chose for herself and arose above the complications. She found her home in Nome, with Kodi whom she looked at as her big brother. She was _Where Her Heart Had Taken Her._

----------

**This story starts 2 months after Where the Heart Takes You, Shanti is 4 months.  
**

----------

"Shanti! Please stop, I can't take it anymore!"

Shanti stopped bouncing and turned her head around to look at Kirby. He lay on the ground with his front paws on top of his head. Kirby was not a morning dog. Shanti giggled because of the irony. Most mail was delivered in the mornings.

"What's so funny?" Kirby asked in a low and tired growl.

"Nothing" Shanti answered cheerfully before bouncing away from Kirby.

"Urgh, kids" Kirby growled before closing his eyes at a faint attempt to rest some more.

"Hey, how long before we go?" Shanti asked as she came to a stop before the rest of the team, who were gathered near the sled.

"Just a few more bags" Kodi replied eagerly. Shanti wagged her tail in excitement. It did not go unnoticed.

"Eager for you first run, he?" Dusty stated. Shanti gave an excited bark in answer. The excitement pumping through her gave her the feeling she had to be loud. No sitting still, no being quiet.

"Oh please, be quiet!" Came Kirby's pathetic response a ways of from the team.

"Why, we're not sleeping, right?" Raph asked confused. Dusty rubbed up against him to sooth his worry before answering.

"Ignore Kirby. There is no need to be quiet. Kirby's just being….well Kirby"

"Still, he is much more grumpy than usual" Shanti said.

"It's because of the weather" Kodi answered. "He's not as bad when it's sunny or simply nice weather. He gets like this when it's cloudy and stormy"

"So his mood fits with the weather" Shanti understood.

"Exactly" Kodi responded.

"Okay kids, Line up!" Just the command they were hoping for. Their musher came out of the post office with the last bag.

Everyone rushed to their position in front of the sled, while the musher fastened the last bag on the sled. Kirby peeked an eye open and sighed overdramatically before slowly getting to his feet.

"Hey lazy bones! If you don't hurry I'll just run shotgun with my big brother!" Shanti called to Kirby, who was dragging his feet.

The lead position had always been something everyone fought for, well not everyone. Kodi had always wanted to be the lead dog, but had always been in a double lead. Now with Shanti having joined the sled team, their musher had placed him in the lead and Shanti next to Kirby as the two point dogs. Dusty and Raph weren't that competitive and were placed behind Shanti and Kirby as swing dogs. The last two, closest to the sled, were Sandy and Curly who were the wheel dogs.

Kirby quickened his pace, but his tail remained low. He really didn't feel like running today. He reached his position next to Shanti just as the musher finished with the harness of Dusty.

"Come on, boy" the musher spoke gently as he urged Kirby beside Shanti, in the line.

He placed him in the harness before placing one foot on the main line and stepped over to the other side to place Shanti in her harness. Shanti wagged her tail fast in excitement, but hesitated for a split second when she had to duck her head through the harness.

She didn't know why, she had trained with the team often, yet every time she hesitated a moment. She guessed it was just her instinct warning her of attacks from above her, but the others never showed such concern, as if they didn't have that instinct. But she knew they had.

As always the musher waited patiently for Shanti to make the next step, which she always did. She ducked her head and slowly lifted her front paw to step through the harness. She sighed when it was lowered on her back and started wagging her tail again.

As soon as Kodi was placed in his harness as well, they all began to bark from eagerness, except for Shanti. She howled happily among their barks.

"Mush!" the command was given and the barking and howling stopped. Instead the sound of paws hitting the snow and a sled moving through the snow took its place. They were away, racing through the last part of Nome to the outskirts leading to White Mountain.

Shanti barked as they passed the last house and entered the outskirts. Kodi responded to her bark with one of his own. Her first real run had begun.

#

Shanti had trained a lot to get ready for becoming a sled dog or in her and Kodi's case a sled wolf/dog. Still it was quite different to actually leave town and run across the outskirts. The vast white surrounding went unbroken for miles. Far of in the distance were specks of trees and behind them the town became smaller and smaller.

But none of that bothered her. What did catch her undivided attention, was the smells and sounds. So many things she had never smelled or heard before, because they didn't belong in a town.

Her wolf senses were running wild, especially when she caught track of prey animals. There were so many! Even though she was raised as a dog, her instincts could not be buried completely. Now and then she would hunt for some small prey, if not for hunger than for the thrill of a hunt. If she didn't eat it, she'd bring it back to her musher.

She found out the first time she caught something that her musher was real kind and not at all bothered by her hunting instinct or her other wolf instincts. She had caught a snow hare, but didn't quite get what to do with it. Her musher took it and prepared it somehow, then fed it to all his dogs.

So now, whenever she felt like it, she'd go hunt and either eat it or bring it to her musher.

A short bark from Kodi grabbed her attention back to her job. She realised she had been subconsciously moving out of the line and as the lead dog, Kodi easily felt himself being pulled to the side. Shanti quickly repositioned herself and barked an apology back. A teasing tail wag was the response.

It was of course all new to Shanti and expected that her attention could waver on the first run. Still, having wavered already, Shanti was dead-set on remaining focussed from now on. As if her determination was a challenge, snow started blasting around them.

They had only gone about 2 more miles, when all of a sudden dread filled her. As she glanced around wildly, she noticed none of the others noticed anything. Kirby glanced at her confused from her sudden anxiety, but Shanti ignored him. Something was wrong, very wrong! She could feel it deep inside. A silent voice screamed in her head of danger.

Without warning she suddenly hit the brakes, something that was her speciality. Abruptly Kirby was halted as well causing his frontlegs to buckle underneath him and his head to bite snow. Kodi was lurched backwards by the sudden weight on the line and the other dogs slammed into Shanti and Kirby.

Within seconds the sled team was standing still and tangled in each other. The musher hung on the side of the sled and quickly picked himself up. He placed the brake on the sled before moving to his dogs. He sorted them all out before moving to Shanti.

A comforting hand on her head caused Shanti to snap out of her thoughts of danger. She looked up into her musher's kind eyes. She whined pitifully, trying to tell him something wasn't right. He didn't understand as he checked her over for any injuries.

"Shanti?" Kodi asked gently turning around to face her. Shanti looked at Kodi with worry and anxiety in her eyes. "What's wrong?"

"Danger" she answered back simply. Kodi cocked his head slightly as he nuzzled her nose.

"What danger, little sis?" He asked once more.

Shanti's ears perked up for a second before going flat in her neck. She whined again, anxiety and slight fear rolling of her in waves. She was trying to move backwards, but the move was halted by the other sled dogs stationed behind her.

The musher halted her, to which she whined even louder. How could she explain if she herself didn't understand. All she knew was that _something _was dangerous. Then she realised what she just heard. A cracking sound like something breaking. ICE!

"Kodi! Ice, we're on ice!" Shanti barked suddenly startling the other dogs. Kodi immediately took action, not questioning her. He trusted her and her instincts. They were almost always right.

Kodi barked to gain the musher's attention, then proceeded to pull at his jacket. "Kodi? What's wrong boy?" Before Kodi could bark another warning, a loud cracking noise filled the air. Without second thoughts, the musher took his position behind the sled. "Come Haw!"

Kodi turned left 180 degrees and the team followed smoothly after him. They had just started running in the other direction when they felt the ground rumble and suddenly give way.

"RUN!" Kodi barked loudly. No one needed telling twice.

They had run a good distance when the ground became strong and solid again. They turned around and saw a hole in the middle of the snow. They couldn't fallen into that!

When they saw the ancient old tree nearby the hole, they understood what happened. The tree was stationed near a lake, which in this frigid weather had frozen. The snow had troubled their vision, but not enough to call off the run, but still made the trip that much harder. They had accidentally moved of course and reached the dangerously thin-iced lake. If Shanti hadn't stopped, they would have been in serious trouble.

Once more the musher put the brake on the sled and went to check all the dogs. When he reached Shanti he petted her on the head. "Good girl"

Once everything was checked, they took the right path and continued on their run to White Mountain.

#

"I see it, I see it!" Shanti barked excitedly. The team smiled at the eagerness in the young wolf/dog. They had reached White Mountain, it was just visible in the distance through the snow still blowing around them.

As they entered into town, restlessness gripped them all. Something was wrong here. People were running about on the streets with bags, dogs were whining in anxiety as they followed after their humans and strange red light flickered on and off throughout the town.

"Whoa!" Their musher called and they halted outside the post office of White Mountain. The musher put on the break when someone came outside.

"Oh good you're here! Quickly now, hurry!" The old man spoke urgently as he grabbed one of the post bags and rushed back inside. The musher took two bags and followed after him.

"Kodi? What's going on?" Shanti asked nervously. She felt really uncomfortable.

Kodi was looking around at the people and dogs of the town. They were running from something. "I'm not sure" Kodi responded back to his little sister unsure.

Before more questions could be flung around, the musher returned outside, the old man following behind urgently. "Anymore?" The old man asked as he wrung his hands in anxiety.

"No, that was it. What's going on here?" The musher asked. The old man's head snapped up, startled by the question. It quickly changed to understanding.

"Oh dear, oh dear. Of course, you wouldn't know. You came all that way just now. Oh dear, well we're evacuating to Nome. There is a big storm coming, like real big. It's going to be horrible. Stay here and you'd be buried alive in the snow if you haven't frozen to death already"

That sickening feeling inside her, just turned worse. Shanti glanced at Kodi, fear in her eyes. Kodi's eyes were comforting and confident, even though Shanti knew he was scared too. They had to get out of here, quick.

"When will it hit?" Their musher asked the old man.

"Soon, not sure when, but within less than half a day" The old man answered.

"How are you evacuating?"

"Well, we've contacted Nome and they're sending that guy with the plane over"

"Duke, good, it'll fit plenty more people now that it's rebuild a bit. Are there any sled teams in this town?"

"Hmm, not much. There is the one sled team of Mike, but other than that no. Some people have dogs, but none for sledding"

"Okay, contact Nome and ask for sled teams to get people out as well. They're quick and trained for any weather. There can be several people on one sled. I suggest to take the children and women on the plane"

"Yes, very good, I'll go make the call. You should head home too"

"Yes perhaps, are there any people away from town?"

"Oh well, no I don't think so. Well there are a few houses that stand a ways out of town, they might not have seen the lights"

"Where to?"

"Well just straight from this street, can't miss them, really"

"Good, I'll go warn them, you go make that call, hurry!" The musher said before snapping the break loose. "Mush!" They took off leaving a wave of snow behind from their sudden departure. The old man watched them go in stunned confusion before rushing to make the call to Nome.

Shanti's tail was hung behind her, her ears flat. Many of the rest of the team ran similar. They had a mission, but the threat of the storm was pressing down on them. They would do their job, no matter what job it was, but that didn't mean they weren't afraid.

Steadily they moved out of town, the storm brewing in the distance, inching closer and closer with every minute.

* * *

**Hope you liked, please review and let me know. **


	2. Main Concern

_Disclaimer: I don't own Balto or any of it's characters, nor the story or movie Eight Below. I just play with the character's of Balto and was inspired by Eight Below and decided to base this sequel on the movie._

----------

Where The Heart Survives

Main Concern

----------

_Previously_

_Our favorite sled team made the journey to White Mountain with some dangers from bad weather. When they arrived there, news of a big Storm reached them and the town was about to Evacuate. The team decided to help and were sent to warn families who lived a ways off out of town.  
_  
----------

"Stop! Stop! I said STOP!"

Balto laughed as he watched Boris being assaulted by Muk and Luk. When Boris had agreed to play with them, he had not expected such enthusiastic responses, although he should have. In all this time Balto thought Boris knew what to expect with the two polar bears.

"What's so funny?" Balto's head whipped around at the soft voice. Jenna sat down beside him and nuzzled him before her head turned to the view below the boat.

"Boris is having a problem" Balto replied trying not to laugh as the bird in question fluttered pathetically after his floating feathers, Muk and Luk trailing after him.

"Hmm and you don't feel like you should help him out?" Jenna asked teasingly.

"Nah, Boris should know by now what to expect. He can handle them"

The sound of muffled voices, muffled because of distance, caught their attention. It was coming from town. Curious as ever, Balto made his way into town, Jenna following close behind. Boris was still entangled in his struggle with Muk and Luk and didn't notice them leaving.

Balto and Jenna heard the voices grow louder and clearer, but not clear enough. They trotted down the alleys and when they reached the last street of Nome, the one with the post office, they froze in utter shock.

In front of the telegraph office stood a crowd of people, all muttering in confusion or asking what was going on. It seemed as if the whole town had arrived. Balto glanced worriedly at Jenna, who looked just as concerned and listened attentively as someone spoke up.

"Quiet down, quiet down people!" A man shouted through a megaphone. The people quieted down, eager for the news that demanded the whole town's attention.

"We've received news from White Mountain. They are in urgent and immediate evacuation" Concerned murmurs followed his statement. Holding up his hand so everyone would quiet down again, he continued.

"A huge storm is on route to White Mountain. Never before has there been such a large storm, at least not in a long while. Getting underground will not protect against this storm and so Nome had agreed to help them out and offer them refuge here" Obviously worry and fear bubbled through the crowd at the news of such a heavy storm.

"The hospital will take as many people as possible in, but we ask that anyone who can, would offer to take some people in. We also ask for aid from sled teams. We've sent Duke ahead with the plane to bring mostly children and woman safely here, but we can use all the help we can get. If sled teams who are available would please help out. You won't have to be carry many, just as much as could fit on a sled"

"What about the storm? Are we in danger of it?" Interrupted a frantic woman. The man quickly responded before a panic broke out.

"Not to worry, not to worry. So far the storm is only headed for White Mountain. Only with a strong change of direction in the wind, could the storm reach Nome. We still advice strongly to be prepared to go underground or in the worst case evacuate. We have reason to believe, that even if the storm changes towards Nome, it will not be as strong as it will be in White Mountain and going underground will be enough protection" He paused before continuing, letting this sink in for a minute.

"Now people, lets please hurry along to help our fellow town. People offering place in their house, go to Madam Jessa. She will take note who is offering and how many can fit.

Sled teams report to me, I'll sign your name and number of dogs before you go. Do not go out without signing up, this way we'll know is someone is missing!

Come on people, lets move!" This last was not necessary as people already rushed to Madam Jessa as soon as the words had left his mouth. The same happened with the mushers as they rushed to sign their name and number of dogs.

As soon as everything was written down, the mushers would ran at full speed home or wherever they had their dogs stationed to go and prep them for the journey.

Balto and Jenna both had their ears flat in their neck in worry. Jenna subconsciously leaned against Balto, who rubbed his head against hers in comfort. This storm was bad, really bad.

"Balto….Kodi is out there" Jenna whispered in a voice thick with worry. Balto looked out at the crowd, determination painted all over him.

"I know" Jenna looked worriedly up at him, recognizing the tone of his voice.

"You're going" she stated, no need to ask for she already knew it to be true.

"Yes" Balto said, but before Jenna could say anymore, Balto ran out onto the street, towards a certain sled team being prepped in the middle of the street.

It was Steele's old team. Steele had been banned as sled dog, deemed too old and aggressive. However Star, Nikki and Kaltag were still a part of the team, as were three others whom Balto guiltily noted he had run with but never even knew their names.

"Balto? Hey guys look! It's Balto!" Star yelled as he bounced and twirled in circles trying to look at Balto, Nikki and Kaltag at the same time.

"Balto?" Kaltag looked up surprised. They had been away from Nome a little while, mostly so their musher could try and find a lead dog that would work well with his team. Alas, no lead dog had been right for the team so far and their musher had opted to work without a lead dog and simply have 6 dogs.

"Hey guys" Balto responded happily as he saw his friends, which they were.

"Haven't seen you in a while" Kaltag continued.

"That's because we've been away and out of sight" Star interrupted cheerfully as ever. Kaltag seemed ready to slap him again, when Nikki bumped him and then focused his attention on Balto.

"You look troubled. Worried about the storm?" Nikki asked. The other two immediately quieted and looked eager for an answer.

"Sort of. My son is out there" Balto answered with a heavy heart. Of course, he forgot that they had been gone for a long while, like shortly after the epidemic had been healed and only just got back.

"SAY WHAT!?" All three shouted. They remained stationed with their mouths agape, shock written all over their faces.

"Oh right, you guys wouldn't know about that. Been a long while" Balto said chuckling meekly. When they remained in the same state of shock, he decided to just get it over with.

"I've had a litter of 6 puppies. One joined a wolf pack and one the mail team and that is Kodi who is currently away to White Mountain and probably still there"

"SIX!" Nikki gasped.

"WOLF PACK!?" Kaltag gasped.

"With WHO!?" Star asked shocked but happily.

"With me" Jenna answered striding up beside Balto.

"NO WAY!" All three yelled. They were shocked, but thrilled.

"Huh, guess you stole Steel's girlfriend after all" Nikki mused out loud, he was teasing, but Jenna took it wrongly.

"I was NEVER his girlfriend and no one _stole_ me!" She snarled unhappily. Nikki shrunk back followed by Kaltag and Star.

"See she kept that temper of hers" Kaltag whispered to the others. Jenna huffed in annoyance as she clearly heard them, but ignored them as she turned to Balto.

"We should get ready to leave" she said as she nuzzled Balto kindly. Balto pulled back startled.

"Uh, you coming with us?" Star asked confused, but eager to have Balto back on the team. Balto was a quick thinker and fast on his feet. He'd be an asset to their team.

"What? You're not going anywhere Jenna" Balto stated determinedly. Jenna did not take this lightly.

"I sure am! He's my son too!" She snapped back.

"Jenna please, I can't risk you being out there, it's too dangerous" Balto countered.

"It's always dangerous and besides I'm through with waiting at home while you chase after someone. First Aleu, then Duke and then Kodi went after you and I was worried sick the whole time!" Jenna blurted angrily.

"Jenna please, I can't be worried about you too" Balto pleaded as he carefully bumped his nose under Jenna's. "Besides who's going to keep Boris and the others from doing something stupid while I'm gone?" He added good humouredly.

"You always do something stupid, first" Jenna whispered sadly. Balto heard the defeat in her voice. As much as Jenna wanted to go and find her son, she didn't want to put Balto in danger because he was worrying about her.

"I'll be careful. I'll come back, I always do" Balto whispered back. They hugged each other, not wanting to separate for any amount of time, but needing to, for their son.

"Love you" Both said at the same time. Star, Nikki and Kaltag were watching awe struck. They'd witnessed them getting together, but to actually see the love evolved into something so strong, was amazing.

It was then their musher arrived. Jenna stepped back while Balto stepped close to the man. He lay his ears flat in his neck and looked pleadingly at the man. When he spotted Balto, the musher crouched in front of him and patted his head and scratched behind one of his ears.

"You want to help us out, boy?" He asked. Balto immediately raised his ears and barked in agreement. "Alright then, I haven't practiced yet with six dogs, so we could use a lead dog" Balto followed the musher to the lead position and stood patiently as he strapped him in.

"Alright lads, Mush!" The command was given and with a last glance at Jenna, Balto ran with Star and an unknown dog behind him and Kaltag and Nikki behind them and the last two unknown dogs in front of the sled. There was no time to get to know those dogs. They had to move!

To White Mountain, to his son.

#

The weather had turned bad. Snow blasted wildly around, blinding Kodi and the team. They could make out dark shapes when close, but other than that, it was more a blind run. Though Kodi could handle it, he let his senses do the work, it was still rather unnerving. After all, with this kind of strong wind not many senses worked properly.

Whenever their musher shouted a command it took the entire team to get the message to Kodi. The wind was against them, so blowing the command away from the team, behind them. Luckily Sandy and Curly caught the command, though barely, because they were closest to the musher. They passed the message onto Raph and Dusty who in turn passed it on to Kirby and Shanti and last it was passed to Kodi.

So all in all, it took several minutes before the command was executed. But that wasn't all. Though all of them had thick coats, especially Shanti, the wind was relentless and held broken pieces of ice. Their noses were ice cold and their eyes were almost constantly squeezed shut. It wasn't like they could see anything anyway when they opened them.

Thankfully, Kodi had a strong sixth sense. He could just feel it when they were in danger or going horribly wrong. Shanti had it too. It was even stronger with her. She often knew things before Kodi, but was always too doubtful about what she felt and didn't speak up. Well she got over that, as shown with her excellent stop on the way to White Mountain.

Right now though, she seemed too caught up with the weather trying to beat her down, to inform Kodi of danger. She picked it up sooner, but Kodi managed to sense something wrong in time. So far it was going fine.

Kodi worried about Shanti though. The wind was relentless as it beat down on her, the ice cutting every part of her it could reach. Her thick coat blew wildly in the strong blasts of wind and softened the impact of the ice. But he could tell, she was tiring and probably hurting too. Her paws and nose were probably just like his own, freezing painfully.

Kodi knew she had trained well and often outran the entire team and could keep it up longer than any of them, but this was her first run and it was taking far longer than it should. The weather was much worse than anything she ever faced or any of them ever faced and there was no shelter from the wind and ice in this white, vast plain. At least in a town, buildings kept the worst at bay.

And not to forget, as tough as Shanti was and as strong minded as she was, she was still only four months. There was only so much anyone could take, even wolves.

Kodi blew out a heavy breath which was immediately blown back into his face followed by a large piece of ice hitting him square on the nose. He growled in annoyance before peeking through his eye lids, only to see a swirl of snow and ice blowing in every direction, though mostly directed towards the team.

Shanti wasn't his main concern though, not himself nor the other dogs. It was rarely that Shanti didn't come first on his worry list, but this time she wasn't the one most in danger. Though cold, hurt, tired and frustrated, she could keep herself together and survive. No she wasn't his main worry, it was their musher.

Their musher was a though man, but he was still a man. Not a dog with a thick, warm coat. Sure he had thick clothes, thick jackets and thick boots, but it didn't work as well as a coat. Wind could easily enter from the tiniest openings and it took the human body much longer to warm the cold air that entered. A dogs or wolf's coat could do it much easier as it was what they were there for.

Their musher had been having trouble holding on to the sled and when they stopped for a moment, all the dogs took the time to rest, but Kodi paid attention to the musher. He had watched as the musher took off his gloves and had instantly lowered his ears in fright. The top of his musher's fingers were starting to blacken. His musher had quickly rubbed something on his fingers before putting the gloves back on.

That had been about half an hour ago and now the musher was leaning with his arms instead of his hands on the sled. And…he had started coughing. A hard, raspy coughing fit would seize him every now and then. He noticed the first time he coughed when the wind abruptly turned the opposite way blowing every sound from behind to the front, for about a minute. Then the wind blew as before, making hearing anything from behind rather difficult again for Kodi.

But he somehow felt it, through the sled, to the team, even with all the running and moving, somehow he felt it when their musher coughed, well when the cough was heavy at least. And from the look in Shanti's eyes when he'd glanced behind for a second, she could tell it too. Their musher couldn't go on for much longer.

Kodi decided enough was enough. They hadn't seen another house for over an hour and the other houses were at the most twenty minutes apart. Time to turn back to White Mountain. Kodi turned to his left, Kirby and Shanti eagerly turning with him, when a particularly vicious blast of wind caught them. They almost tumbled onto their sides, Shanti bumping into Kirby as she was blast aside. They felt the brake of the sled and came to stop.

It was as they stood still panting from exhaustion, that they all heard it, Shanti and Kodi sooner than the others. A high pitched sound, far in the distance and more sounds joined in. Some constantly interrupting before sounding again, others a long tone before stopping and starting over.

Kodi looked at Shanti and she looked straight back at him. They had recognized it and as they turned to the team, they could tell so had they.

Someone was barking and howling!

* * *

**Well here I cut off the chapter. Evil of me isn't it? Well though I like to keep things excited, it wasn't planned to stop here. But the chapter got too long. Still I think or hope you like this chapter, I especially had fun with Nikki, Kaltag and Star.**

**By the way, for those who don't know, although a balto fan would know. Nikki, Kaltag and Star were the dogs that were in Steele's team in the first movie. They were at first sort of enemies of Balto but eventually became friends when Steele's aggressive nature got too far.**

**Nikki is the brown, "fat" one. Kaltag the yellow one who always hits Star, who is the purple one that seems hyper all the time.**

_**AN 1: Also do not blame Balto for now knowing the three other dogs on the team. I could not find how the other dogs of Steele's team were named and Balto never really interacted with them in the movie.  
**_

_**AN 2: yes I know dogs don't really have a sense of time, but as I write mostly from the dogs perspective, I have no choice.**_

**So please review and tell me what you thought of the Chapter!**

_Next chapter title: __The First Has Fallen!_


	3. The First Has Fallen

_Disclaimer: I don't own Balto or any of it's characters, nor the story or movie Eight Below. I just play with the character's of Balto and was inspired by Eight Below and decided to base this sequel on the movie._

* * *

Where The Heart Survives

The First Has Fallen

_

* * *

Previously_

_Our favorite sled team was warning people that lived out of town. When they decided to turn back to town, sounds of barking and howling reached them._

* * *

Shanti let out a puff of air which immediately assaulted her back into her face. The wind was fierce still, but Shanti wasn't fazed by it like before. She had gone into a sort of daze as she grew more exhausted and cold. Now she felt wide awake, refreshed. She was still tired and cold, but she was "present" again, no longer running on auto-pilot.

The barks and howls grew louder. If it wasn't for the strong wind that blew towards them, they wouldn't have heard it. Shanti scrunched her nose and mentally corrected herself. The barking and _pathetic attempts _at howling were getting louder. No matter the seriousness of the situation, she could not swallow bad howling.

She watched Kodi in front of her, running at a steady pace. Occasionally he glanced back worry in his eyes. Shanti knew what had her big brother worried. Their musher was not doing well and just as they planned to go back they had to find something.

Shanti berated herself silently. Whoever was out there was obviously in need of help. She shouldn't blame anyone for their musher's bad health. She loved her musher very much, even in the short time she knew him. Losing him would not befall her well, but that didn't condole putting blame on innocents.

Shanti snapped back to her current situation as a blast of air hit her at the side, nearly toppling her into Kirby. She steadied herself, barked a small apology to Kirby and a reassurance to Kodi. The wind howled furiously around them, taunting them almost.

Suddenly Kodi barked loudly and slowed his pace. They were near. Their musher seemed to have heard them as he stood a bit straighter, though the movement was slow and weak. Shanti couldn't prevent a pathetic whine from escaping her. She was dead worried for her musher as was the rest of the team. She expected Kodi to reassure her as he always did, but this time it didn't come. Instead Kodi hit the brakes and the wind growled around them.

Shanti peeked through the slids in her eyes, trying to see through the heavy, wild snow. Many scents hit her first; dogs and a human. Suddenly the wind turned away, making the area much clearer, visible, and Shanti realized it hadn't been the wind that growled.

Large, sharp-looking teeth became visible in a dark brown face. Shanti jerked in her harness, a shock reaction, but before the instinct to flee could kick in, Dusty reassured her, stepping as close beside her as the tugline allowed. Realizing she was surrounded by her team, Shanti calmed down and forced down her instinct to run.

"Is that normal?" Ralph asked in a confused tone. They all followed his gaze and what they saw startled them.

Behind this unknown sled team, the sled itself was at an odd angle and only half visible. The other half was stuck in frozen water. But it was what they saw next that really upset them, Shanti released a high pitched whine of fear and dread. The musher was still holding on to the sled with both hands and he was completely frozen solid.

Their own musher stepped closer to her, tried to reassure her and the rest of the team. He made sure he'd put the brake on the sled and placed a lamp on the sled before moving towards the other sled team. Shanti had to look away from the frozen musher and so opted to look at the other team. There were five of them in a single line formation, a gangline Kodi had taught her. There was one in the lead and two pairs and from the frozen snow and ice caught in their coat, it was obvious they'd been here a while.

It was the dark brown leader that was growling, warning them to stay put and not come closer. Shanti recognized the signs immediately. He was scared for his team and their musher and from the scar on his muzzle she guessed he didn't trust easily.

Behind him were two younger huskies huddled into themselves to try and protect from the harsh wind and ice. Their eyes were downcast and they seemed unable or unwilling to join their lead dog in defending, perhaps they were not so distrusting.

The young, dark reddish female did look up at the team and her glare was so intense it threw Shanti off. Almost as if she blamed them for their situation.

The male had a much gentler look to him. She could make out his beige coat and some black coloring in his neck, but from his huddle position, she could not make out more.

The last pair was also a male and a female. The female was definitely an adult, though not very old, she was not very young either. Her coat was a chocolate brown color with beige streaks on the side of her muzzle.

The male beside her seemed much older, his face looked tired in a different way than physical tiredness. His coat was a grey and silver mixture and his front paws were a dark grey.

Neither of them besides the leader seemed hostile, mistrusting. Even the young female, whose glare could scare many, did not seem hostile but closer to annoyed and angry. Still, it took only one to make Shanti uncomfortable. Her gaze returned to the male leader and she was startled to see his gaze honed in on her, as if he saw her as the main threat.

Luckily for Shanti, his gaze was drawn away by the approaching musher. He watched, almost murderously, as the musher approached the sled. Holding on to it, he lowered himself as far as he could and started chopping away at the ice around the sled with his ice hammer.

After a while the sled and its musher came free. Immediately the small sled teams tart to pull until the sled was safely out of the water and the Nome musher put on the brake before the dogs could try and run.

"Easy" He tried to reassure the dogs. He checked the frozen musher, but it was obvious he was dead for a while now. No one who looked that frozen, could possibly be alive.

The small dog team was uneasy, barking and whining and in the leader's case growling. Shanti's musher ignored it, focussing on his task. He couldn't just leave the man behind, he might have family. So he placed the man, with some trouble, on his own sled. Though Shanti whole heartedly agreed to bring him home, she felt somewhat uneasy to have a dead man on her team's sled.

Then came the hard part, Shanti knew. The other team could not follow with their own sled, but they didn't trust them either. Shanti knew her musher would not place them behind or next to their sled, that was too dangerous for the dogs nor was it normal and so they would not be used to it.

That left two choices. One long single line or two fan hitches. The logical option was two fan hitches, cause Shanti could tell without a doubt, that a gangline would be disastrous.

Their musher took his team of the gangline, place them in a fan hitch and put them a little distance away from the sled as he went to do the same to the other team. The leader still growled at him, but he allowed the man to change their line and place them in front of his own sled.

So far, neither of the dogs had spoken a word and Shanti didn't like it. It unnerved her. With the small team in place, their musher came to get them and placed them in front of the small team. This way they could not fight with the other team and their musher had his own dogs in front to mush. No one mushed with strange dogs.

Finally they were on their way. Shant was happy to run beside Kodi, though as the lead dog he still ran slightly ahead of them. To Shanti's right ran Dusty, also a comforting presence. The wind had grown stronger, if that were possible, but Shanti was not giving in anymore. As if trying to prove her strength, she ran with her tail high and pushing hard with every step that hit the snow.

It went tricky in the beginning, the small team not liking their position, locked between a sled and another team, but soon enough they were fast on their way. Noise from the town reached their ears as it rode on the wind.

"We're back! We made it!" Shanti barked happily. The others smiled at that.

"Oh dear, oh dear. What happened?" it was the same old man that told them about the storm.

"Found this sled team. Their musher is dead. Couldn't leave him behind, though" Their musher explained. A coughing fit overtook him then.

"Oh dear, are you alright?" the old man questioned immediately.

"Fine, I'm fine" He answered. The old man got some people to help with the dead musher. A medic then noticed the blackened fingers of the Nome musher as he worked on the lines.

"Dear God, what are you doing! You need medical attention immediately!" He exclaimed.

"I'm fine. My dogs- " he coughed several times before he was able to continue. "My dogs need to be taken care of before we can make the trip back to Nome"

"Impossible, you are suffering third degree freezing. Besides, it's passed sledding back to Nome. The weather is coming on too strongly. We're the last people in town. The plane is the only option and you must come immediately"

"But my dogs- "

"They'll be fine. We'll put them inside and Mr. Duke will come back for them. They won't fit with this many people"

Before their musher could argue he was hauled off to the plane, his last words reaching them with the wind.

"I'll come back, promise!"

"Kodi?" Shanti suddenly asked uneasily. Kodi nudged her trying to comfort her.

"Don't worry. He never lies to us. He'll be fine and we'll see him soon" Kodi answered her.

They watched saddened and worried for their musher as he disappeared into the plane.

* * *

Balto and Jenna watched worriedly as Kodi and Shanti's musher was helped out of the plane. More people followed, but no dogs. This worried them. What was even worse, the plane did not take off again. Walking closer, they listened to the people discussing.

"The weather has changed for the worse. It's too dangerous to fly, Duke"

"But there are dogs left behind there. I'll risk it, I can fly my baby through anything!" Duke argued.

Balto and Jenna paled when they understood what was going on. Kodi, Shanti, the team… they were still there!

"No Duke, you can't. Remember last time?" Balto surely remembered. When Duke arrived for the first time, he had crashed during a race with the mail team, Kodi's team. Balto and said team had saved him in the end. It was no wonder Duke wanted to go back for them.

"I've got to go Jenna" Balto said, but before Jenna could argue a shouting came from inside.

"NO! My dogs, my kids! They're still there. I can't leave them. I promised them I'd come back!" It was the musher.

Balto and Jenna felt similar and both suddenly ran forward, but before they got far, human hands grabbed hold of them.

"No, Balto don't. It's too dangerous, even for you" Balto struggled, even tried to bite the humans, which surprised Jenna enough to make her stop struggling. She was pushed into a home followed by Balto, who was still fighting them.

But it was useless. Looking out the window, praying it to open, Balto howled like a father who felt like he lost his son.

* * *

**Well it's not brilliant and might seem a bit rushed and perhaps not enough Shanti time in there. I apologize, but I needed it finished today as promised before Christmas and I just couldn't get it all right. I hope it's acceptable.**

**Please review, don't be mad at my slow updates and review.**

**Next Chapter title: Left Behind (might change)**


End file.
